Get Out of the Middle & Take a Stand 4

In my last post I explained that at the National Speaker’s Association (NSA) convention, two themes emerged for me: Be true to who you are and Take a Stand.

Taking a stand means that some people will not like you, they may even hate you. For me, this is scary. One of my strengths is harmony and I would love if everyone loved and respected everyone else and tolerated their differences. Unfortunately, this is not reality and in fact too much of this can be too mediocre or in the middle and just plain boring.

At the NSA convention, there was a wonderful keynote speaker, Kyle Maynard. He was born with out arms or legs. He is an “inspirational athlete” (from his website linked on his name) and motivational speaker and clearly has a compelling story about growing up with a lot of challenges and staying motivated. How could this guy have enemies? He took a stand for participating in wrestling as a kid and later in mixed martial arts cage fighting as a young adult. He stood for being allowed to participate. He was called a publicity hound and received death threats. He had someone tell him, “Yeah, I could be on Oprah too if I sawed off my arms and legs.” He almost quit the speaking business multiple times due to the pressure and threats. He stayed after meeting two badly burned soldiers from the war in Iraq. They had made a suicide pack due to their extreme burn injuries. They saw a video of Kyle speaking and decided they could go on living. Here is a link to the full “wounded warrior” story on Kyle’s website (via the quote he references): “Heroes and cowards feel exactly the same fear. Heroes just react to it differently.”  Cus D’Amato

I take a stand on:

• Living my purpose/dreams (following my internalGPS). I will not compromise in order to take an “easier” path. I heard this quote at the NSA convention: “Its not because things are difficult that we do no dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” – Seneca
• Choosing my daily habits and how I am living. I spend time each day reflecting on how I am being and if I am living my values. I surround myself with positive and supportive people that are looking for new ways to grow and learn and are humble in knowing that we are never done.
• Fairness and harmony in how I treat those around me. Striving for win/win agreements in all of my dealings. Empathy and compassion for those that do not agree with me or are on a different path.
• Responsibility in how I manage my finances and the environmental resources that I use.  I invest and spend responsibly and use resources conservatively.

Mother Teresa (she had enemies too) said it very well (link for prior post with full quote here):

“People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; forgive them anyway. If you are kind, People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway.”

What do you believe in and take a stand for? How are you separating yourself from the sea of mediocrity? Please share in a comment